Current refrigeration trends promote the use of carbon dioxide and other types of natural refrigerants as opposed to conventional hydrofluorocarbon based refrigerants. Although such carbon dioxide based refrigeration systems may be considered more environmentally friendly, such systems tend to be less efficient and, hence, may require more overall power usage given the low critical point and therefore high throttling losses between the heat rejection and heat absorption process in a conventional refrigeration cycle.
There is thus a desire for refrigeration systems using natural refrigerants such as carbon dioxide with improved efficiency and improved overall energy consumption. Preferably such an improved refrigeration system may be environmentally friendly with reduced overall operational and maintenance requirements.